Residents, board address pre-K program in county
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on April 4, 2017 8:18 AM
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School board member Jennifer Strickland speaks during last month's joint session with county commissioners. Strickland clarified at Monday nights' school board meeting comments she made at the previous meeting concerning pre-K.
School board member Jennifer Strickland clarified her position on pre-K programs on Monday night.
The need for pre-K has been a hot topic of late, sparked further at a joint meeting between the school board and commissioners last month. Commissioner Joe Daughtery questioned the need for a pre-K program in the public schools, suggesting the district focus more on improving K-12 education.
Mrs. Strickland said then that she agreed, citing data coming from such directions as Finland -- where children wait an extra year to start school, at age 6, and have had higher grades -- and Charlotte, where education levels have seemed to average out by high school.
Two local activists, who have been very vocal on the subject at several public meetings recently, made a push for the school board to take a different approach.
Ravonda Jacobs urged the board to be "leaders who are going to stand up and do something totally radical and different to bring about a new change."
"Look at the school-to-prison pipeline," she said. "It starts as a young child. It starts at 4 and 5, so by cutting pre-K programs and not putting adequate education into our younger students, we're producing the teenagers who are going to jail, who are filling our prisons."
Keith Copeland said part of the recent debate had been spurred on by the "either/or philosophy."
"We don't have enough money so you can either do this or you can do this," he explained. "But when we're talking about our children, either/or is not a good policy to follow, and I'm sure that people here on this board understand that.
"What we would like to see is the board stand up. We know that you don't make the laws. We know certain things get forced upon you, but just think about it."
During board comment, Mrs. Strickland thanked the speakers for their passion.
She said she had debated about mentioning anything further on the pre-K topic, but felt the need to clarify her earlier comments.
"I need everyone to know that I am not against pre-K," she said. "I would like to see every student have the opportunity at pre-K."
She said she has had a problem reconciling over the past few years how pre-K programs, formerly offered for free at day cares, have in some cases been moved into public schools and lost grant funding, with parents having to pay for it.
Her stance, she pointed out, has not been as much about the programs themselves but more of a concern with what the state is requiring.
"It was more of a (case of), I feel like we need to assess the entire program," she said. "If the program is being offered, and we need to focus more on getting our students to reading at grade level by third grade, then we work within the community because there are offerings for these students that have now been shifted.
"They've not been eliminated, they've been shifted from one entity to another."
She said that she favors children having opportunities to be exposed to education at the earliest possible level, and if that can't be accomplished at home because parents are working, there must be somewhere for them to go.
The bigger problem, she pointed out, is what may be expected from them at early ages, generated by standards set up by the state.
"And that's not something that we as a board can control at this time. That is something coming down from the state and the federal level," she said. "That's where I get very angry and very uptight because now our students are expected to perform at levels that may not be appropriate for them. But that doesn't mean that they're always going to be behind."
Other business:
The board unanimously voted to surplus a property at 612 S. Breazeale Avenue in Mount Olive, the site of the former Carver High School. The campus is currently used by the Carver High School Alumni Association, as well as WAGES and ADLA, which offers youth programs and a culinary arts program.
The Town of Mount Olive has expressed interest in taking over the property, Schools Superintendent Mike Dunsmore said. Existing programs could continue operating, he said, but the building would be offered as surplus and turned over to the town.
Board member Raymond Smith made a motion to that affect, seconded by board member Rick Pridgen.
The board's attorney, Jack Edwards, said statutes dictate that the property must first be offered to the county commissioners. If they decline, it can then be offered to the town.
Smith restated his motion to reflect the protocol.
District 2 board member Len Henderson made the only comments on the topic. He later said it had been one of the most difficult votes he has had to make as a board member, in part because of the Carver history.
"But through the discussions I have had with many representatives of the town, WAGES and the alumni, I tried to take everybody's position into consideration," he said. "This decision was a unified decision that all of those organizations came to.
"It doesn't mean I necessarily agree with it but we as a board have made that decision. We have to live with that decision and I hope it doesn't come back to bite us."